Hi! I was wondering… I’ve knitted and crocheted acrylic and polyester/nylon, but I’d like to get into some 80% or 100% cotton. I was even thinking about making a pullover shirt really big and drapey with room to spare but throwing it in the washer and drier for daily convenience (much unlike the alpaca one in the works).
I’m wondering if cotton shrinks more in one direction than it does another in regard to standard single-knit panels? I found discussions about felting shrinkage, but I didn’t readily find this.
I’ve bought a cheap shirt or two in the past that were machine knit cotton that wound up shrinking way too short vertically while remaining silly <-wide-> in proportion like a sawed-off pickle barrel. I don’t want my project to look like a one-axis shrinky-dink. Is the answer to generally go long to start with, if I want to beat it up in the wash & dry? I’ve also had some awefully comfy, broken-in cotton garments that did great this way without special care (usually not from the bargain bin). I’d like to try to recreate one by hand. I’m mainly e-wrap knitting on a loom, as a rule, for this type of thing.
I appreciate it if you can point me in the right direction.
Thanks!
Jeff
Odessa, FL
The best way to know is to simply knit a swatch piece with the yarn, needles and pattern you are going to use and then put it through some washing cycles and see what effect it got. It looks like shrinkage depends on a lot of factors, so there will not be any universal answer, I am afraid.
In my experience, cotton does not shrink much at all and can be stretched out fairly well… at least those cotton sweaters I do have.
Thanks… good idea.
Wow, that’s surprising; do you put your cotton sweaters in the drier?
I don’t with many things I want to keep nice, but this item is intended for heavy use and laundering.
I appreciate your testimonial from experience. If you put your cotton sweaters in the drier and they don’t shrink much it truly does exemplify how not all arrangements of cotton act the same.
My cotton dishrags shrink in the dryer but stretch out again when wet. My experience with cotton/acrylic is no shrinkage but I’m careful not to over-dry things like that. I have to agree that a swatch measured before and after the way you intend to clean the garment is the only way to know what to expect.